


A Dog Days Summer Vacation

by morgie_b32



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hatori and Aya are more than friends, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Shigure being thirsty, Smug Kureno, Some Fluff, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26290642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgie_b32/pseuds/morgie_b32
Summary: In the dog days of summer, there's nothing better than a beach vacation, but there's just one problem. Well, maybe a few more problems than one. In Shigure's attempt to win back Akito, he drags along on their vacation with a plan to one-up Kureno. From restaurant food fights to arcade high scores, it's evident that Shigure will stop at nothing to win. But, maybe all this fighting isn't the way to win her back.
Relationships: Sohma Akito/Sohma Kureno, Sohma Akito/Sohma Shigure, Sohma Ayame/Sohma Hatori
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I just have a few notes, for now, anyway.
> 
> One is that you know Chapter 97 spoilers for this story. Also, everyone knows that Akito is a woman, just a heads up. Two is that in this story Yuki and Ayame are not brothers, because I didn't want to develop Ayame in that kind of relationship, rather I wanted to develop him with Shigure and Hatori. Three is that Kureno may be a little out of character just so I can make him just a little smugger, for plot's sake. That's all for now. Hope you enjoy :))

Chapter 1

He could only watch. His dark chocolate eyes staring while deep in his heart something lingered. Maybe, a quote from a book? Or maybe a scene from a movie? No, he knew it wasn’t either of those things, rather, a feeling from long ago, a promise he hadn’t forgotten. A love for someone he longed to be with.

Seeing the two of them act in the way they did send shivers up the spine of the eavesdropping dog. Each time she laughed that bright and joyful laugh of hers. Each dumb, idiotic, and pointless joke he made to hear that laugh again. Sometimes either of them would make a reference to the news last night. Kureno mentioned the heatwave coming next week. Akito talked about the latest episode of a cop drama she watched. All of it, every little detail, led him to be quieter. Standing outside of Akito’s room stood Shigure, like the lost little puppy he had become ever since getting banished from the main house and the estate no less, 4 months ago. That door cracked open ever so slightly, he just watched in a pitiful silence. The loneliness of watching them was beginning to slowly eat him away. Even so, he couldn’t take his gaze off of them, and all of their infatuation.

Akito was perched right on Kureno’s lap, her kimono was draping off her right shoulder. Kureno, well, he sure looked satisfied with the fact that Akito was so enthralled with his, according to the dog, bland company. Kureno held one of his hands on that bare shoulder, the other hand was wrapped securely around her small waist. Shigure watched as Kureno’s hand slowly and seductively began tracing her collarbone while she laughed a soft laugh, almost like a little girl’s. This action made Shigure cringe, and his heart felt twisted. Then, to make matters worse, one of Akito’s hands reached up and caressed the rooster’s cheek. Kureno’s auburn eyes moved to look at her hand, then Kureno beamed a smile back at her, sending even more uneasiness to Shigure, who was getting tired of this stupid game they were playing. Then almost abruptly, Akito turned her face to Kureno’s, and she reached her lips up for a kiss. Kureno embraced that kiss with a passion Shigure didn’t need to see, it was almost as though the two of them knew Shigure was there. Shigure watched as Akito pulled away, Shigure smiled to himself, but then she kissed Kureno again, leaving Shigure alone, with his smile dropping while a wave of new anger filled up inside him.

Shigure was fed up with this, so he decided that he wanted to go see someone else. Who he hadn’t decided at the moment. He was still lingering on the scene he had just witnessed. Akito sure seemed busy with her tongue stuck up in Kureno’s mouth. Shigure balled up a fist just thinking of them. ‘Why did I even stand around watching?’ The dog thought stupidly. Well, he could always go see Doc. Hatori. Maybe he could help Shigure’s mood, or at the very least, he could at least hand off a stomach pill for the queasiness Shigure felt because of the two of them. ‘What did he have that I don’t?’ Shigure thought. ‘How is their bond any stronger than mine?’ Shigure strolled through the hallways of the main house, his mood inside didn’t reflect that cheerful grin he wore on his face. He passed a couple of maids on his way, but he didn’t make any notion to acknowledge them. In the hallways, he half expected to bump into one of the other Zodiac members, maybe Haru or Ayame. Alas, the hallways were practically empty. ‘It’s unusually quiet today,’ Shigure thought as he was getting close to Hatori’s office.

Shigure had finally made it to the office of the family doctor. The door was shut, but Shigure assumed that Hatori was just filling some paperwork, something Hatori complained about frequently. Shigure decided to knock on the door, but he heard no answer, instead he was knocked with a blank silence that felt so familiar. Then Shigure decided to just open the door, if Hatori was ignoring him, Shigure would clear that up. Then Shigure twisted the doorknob, and opened the door rather aggressively, shouting, “Haa-san, be amazed for your lovely friend has returned!”

But Shigure was met with another silence because, unfortunately, Hatori was not here, instead Shigure was met with the sight of a slumped over Yuki in a chair against the wall. Yuki was balled up with his arms around his knees, and he was trembling terribly. Yuki wouldn’t even look at Shigure much less respond to his dumb declaration to Hatori. Pale, fragile Yuki, he was always at his worst like this. His silver hair glinted in the synthetic light in Hatori’s office. Shigure noticed the blinds were pulled. 

“Yuki, is everything alright?” Shigure asked, partly out of true concern for the boy, the other part of his reasoning he tried not to address.

Yuki didn’t respond to the questioning dog because for one he couldn’t. Yuki was hardly breathing at the moment, besides it’s not as though Yuki would have answered anyway, he didn’t like Shigure. 

“Yuki? You’re not dying are you?” Shigure spoke louder than he should have. Even Hatori who was down the hallway heard the statement. With that Hatori jogged on down to his office. He didn’t want a war to break out.

Then Hatori barged into the room nudging Shigure in the shoulder. Shigure could tell that Hatori was upset with him, but it still didn’t mean that Shigure wouldn’t tease the two of them. 

“Well, Yuki, it’s fancy seeing you here,” Shigure teased, almost like he was blissfully unaware that Yuki was here at all. All of them knew otherwise. Shigure knew why Yuki was here. He knew that Akito liked to get rid of him from time to time. He just also happened to see who exactly Akito wanted to spend that time with.

Yuki ignored him, like usual, only letting out a small sigh. Shigure thought,’Even though she’s with Kureno, I’d rather Yuki be in here than with Akito.’ Shigure knew the kinds of things Akito said to scare Yuki senseless, to start an attack, but he also knew that outside of those words Akito was kind to Yuki, but when it came to Kureno his fist balled up just thinking about that damned rooster. His stupid little face and his stupid hand wrapped around Akito’s waist, and that kiss. Damn that kiss. She’d never kiss him like that. 

“Yuki, I wonder what brings you here today? I hope it’s nothing serious,” Shigure said as Hatori rushed over to the boy.

“An attack, Shigure,” Hatori said almost as if he was under the impression Shigure thought something else was the issue.

“I figured as such, what else would be the cause?” Shigure smirked, his wishy-washy attitude filled the room. It was obvious to everyone why Yuki was here, but Shigure’s day was already ruined. He thought that he might as well ruin everyone else’s.

“A-a-ki-” Yuki mumbled under his breath, his body shaking harshly, “Aki-to.” he finally managed to spit out. Shigure and Hatori both raised an eyebrow to Yuki’s statement. A surprise that he even mentioned Akito.

“Akito?” Shigure questioned the rat, “How is Akito involved?” Shigure honestly just wanted to see how much he could push.

Hatori stopped Yuki from answering by stroking his arm, “Akito must have exhausted him earlier, with all of the work they’ve been doing recently.”

‘That sure looked like work,’ Shigure thought as he almost replicated the image in his head. “Poor Akito, working the summer days away. She and Kureno must have very important business to discuss,” Shigure hissed while smiling because he didn’t want Hatori to know of his eavesdropping earlier. Then Hatori turned to him, just to glare, almost like Shigure said something he shouldn’t have.

“Yes,” Hatori dropped his glare to roll his eyes, “They have plans for a vacation.”

“A vacation?” Shigure asked suddenly, “The two of them?”

The surprise in Shigure’s voice was so evident that even Yuki looked up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1!! :)) I finished this way faster than I thought I would. I don't have any plot notes for this Chapter, but I forgot a disclaimer in chapter 1
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

A vacation? That question lingered on Shigure’s mind. So much so, it could’ve blown him away if he had stuck to his diet. 

“Yes,” Hatori stated frankly, “A beach vacation actually.”

Shigure stood with his mouth draped open and his eyebrows almost took the ceiling off. ‘There is no way,’ he thought.

“Nonsense,” Shigure muttered, “There wouldn’t be a vacation that I don't know about.”

“You think there’s a reason for that?” Hatori grinned sarcastically. 

Shigure quickly brought his hand to his and another to his head, very dramatically no less, and cried out, “Haa-san, why must you wound me so?”

“Because unlike you, I still have common sense,” Hatori said rather seriously while checking Yuki’s temperature. 

Shigure dropped the pose he was holding to assess this stupid vacation the dragon mentioned. He just couldn’t believe that was the kind of thing she wanted to do. ‘Doesn’t she hate sand?’ he thought, ‘Besides why would she want to vacation with Kureno of all the people she could invite.’ The reason for inviting Kureno was obvious to everyone but Shigure.

“How did this vacation come about?” Shigure hissed thinking of a few possible scenarios. The main scenario he thought about was a devious plan from Kureno to lure Akito away and woo her just enough to where she never thought about Shigure again. The poor dog didn’t like that idea. 

“Not sure, but I’m stuck going,” Hatori said, pulling out the stethoscope to check Yuki’s heart rate.

“YOU’RE WHAT??!!” Shigure screamed so loudly and so upset that Hatori was surprised the whole estate didn’t hear it.

“Hush it!” Hatori growled, partially angry he almost lost an eardrum, “You’re acting irrationally.”

Shigure was undoubtedly upset. ‘Not just Kureno, Hatori too,’ he thought. Why didn’t he get invited? Shigure furrowed his brow and glared at Hatori, “Wow,” he rolled his eyes, “Is the whole Zodiac attending?”

Hatori took his attention off of Yuki to monitor Shigure who could’ve easily destroyed the place in a rage, “Shigure if it bothers you that much I could always invite you.” Hatori was sincere to the angry dog, but he only did that to try to soothe his fury.

Shigure was beyond furious, for one Hatori not only knew of the trip, but he was going no less. Shigure could only hope that maybe Akito would pity his poor soul and invite him. Actually, he was counting on that.

“No!” Shigure frowned while crossing his arms like a toddler would when cutting a tantrum, “I will not go on this dumb vacation unless the invite comes from Akito herself!”

“Well then, you could always,” Shigure noted the sarcasm in his voice, “I don’t know, ask her.”

Shigure was about to punch poor Hatori with his fist balled up, but maybe he should weigh his options first. The worst possible option would be for her to not invite him. She’d bring home one of those crappy mug souvenirs with a shark making up the handle. To top it all off she’d hand him a picture of her and Kureno at a romantic sunset. 

The best that could happen for Shigure would firstly be for Akito to beg him to tag along. On the way there they could discuss their plans right in front of Kureno. Their plans would consist of sharing a romantic dinner and enjoying a passionate kiss at sunset. Then Shigure’s mind trailed off thinking of kissing Akito. He felt almost like he was still in high school. Shigure knew he had to focus himself once again and thought, ‘Well, even the worst isn’t that bad, at least I can use the mug.’

“I suppose I can ask for an invite,” Shigure sighed, “That won’t kill me.”

Shigure draped his head already thinking of the ways Akito could rub this in his face when he asked for an invite. She’d probably laugh, and maybe tug at his shirt, or she could tease his affection out into the open, with Shigure flushing red, only for her to laugh even more. At least, that was what he had on his mind.

“Even if it does kill you, I’ll be on vacation so I can’t attend your funeral,” Hatori laughed as though he found this whole thing one big joke, which he did, but that’s not the point.

Shigure faked a laugh and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe Hatori found his friend’s agony hilarious. “Funny, Haa-san, really funny.” Shigure actually felt like crying, only a few tears, but crying nonetheless. It was like everyone was against him, not entirely wrong, but it still stung his heart.

“Right?” Hatori kept pushing him, payback for his attitude earlier, “Well, I have some work to do with Yuki.”

“Right,” Shigure sighed, “I know, I know, go see Akito and get my feelings crushed. I’m used to it.”

Shigure draped his head and looked at his feet. Even Hatori wasn’t in the mood to put up with him. All he wanted was a little sympathy, but that’s a rarity inside of this house. Shigure looked over at Hatori with longing eyes because he needed a friend right now, but Hatori was busy with Yuki. 

Hatori turned to Shigure one last time and said, “You made your bed, you have to learn to lay in it.”

This in turn took away Shigure’s blues and replaced it with a more fiery emotion, anger fueled with jealousy. Shigure took this newfound presence and decided that this was the perfect state to see Akito with.

Shigure stormed out of Hatori’s office passing through the hallways. His feet hit the floor distinctively to where practically everyone in the house could hear where he was going. He passed a couple more maids, but this time there was no grin to hide his feelings, they knew he was upset. ‘No point in covering it up,’ Shigure thought to himself.

Finally, he stood outside of Akito’s room once again, and he wanted to peek but this time the door was shut all the way. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard before knocking. He was met with the sound of Akito’s voice, “Come in.”

Shigure gently opened the door to Akito sitting alone. She was hunched over a small table reading. She didn’t look up at him, actually she barely acknowledged that it was him in the room at all. Instead, she flipped over the page, and Shigure stood in the door frame waiting to be spoken to. Silence loomed over the two of them. Kureno was nowhere in sight. 

Shigure decided to break the cloud of awkwardness by saying, “Hello, Akito, it’s so good to see you.”

Then Akito folded over the page she was on, and she closed her book, setting it gently on the table. Then she glared over at Shigure, “Oh,” She hissed, “It’s only you.”

That acted almost like a bullet straight through him, “Were you expecting someone?” Shigure asked.

Akito looked over at the window, turning away from Shigure, sighing, “No, not really, I just thought Kureno had come back.”

Second bullet. Shigure’s nails dug into his hands. His head tilted over to his right side, looking down on Akito. ‘Is he all she thinks about?’ Shigure asked himself. 

“Well, I came to visit you,” Shigure tried changing the subject, for his own sake.

Akito only turned her face back and scowled at him, she knew Shigure would pick up on it. He may be stupid, but not that stupid.

“Okay?” Shigure was confused, he didn’t know what he had done to make Akito upset, “Something bothering you?”

“Other than you?” She hissed, “No, I think you’re the only issue.”

Shigure frowned and knew that there was no point in even asking for an invitation. In all honesty, he wanted to return to his little house where he could wallow in his despair alone. He’d wait until Hatori got back and told him all about their vacation. He’d cherish in memories he didn’t have and drink out of a shark mug. 

“I may as well just go home, I see I’m not welcome here,” Shigure said, turning around to leave, his heart filling with a sadness “I hope you have fun on your vacation.”

Shigure stepped out and was ready to close the door, but Akito called out after him, “How did you know about my vacation?”

Shigure turned around and faced Akito again who seemed to be shocked, so he grinned, “Writer’s intuition,” he smirked even further. 

She scoffed, “That’s a lie, I knew Hatori couldn’t keep a secret.”

“Unfortunately,” Shigure laughed, “Hatori always tells everything he knows.”

She laughed too, and Shigure’s heart felt a little flutter, “Are you longing for an invitation?” Shigure detected the double-sidedness in her voice and his heart steadied. 

He gulped hard, “Can’t say I’m not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed it. As always comments and reviews are welcome. We'll be getting our actual beach action soon. :))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 3:

He wasn’t quite sure why he said those words, but they were already out in the open. Shigure’s best bet would’ve been to deny everything. But, there was always the option that she saw right through that. In the end, Shigure said what he thought was best.

Shigure turned his head to look at the wall, he was too nervous to make any eye-contact. That was when Akito started laughing erratically, sending a shiver up Shigure’s spine. She paused for a brief moment and tilted her head back a smidge. She seemed to have calmed down, so Shigure glanced back over at her. She stared him dead in the eyes. ‘Wow, are her eyes dark when she’s angry,’ Shigure thought. 

“You,” She smirked, “want to ruin my vacation? Now talk about pathetic, really.”

“I wasn’t trying to ruin your vacation,” Shigure blurted out, not really thinking of the consequences, “I just said that I wouldn’t mind an invitation.”

Then she started laughing again, slinging her head back. Shigure sighed somewhat knowing this is how it would have gone down, his heart soured his head dropped while Akito’s laughter chimed throughout the room. 

“Why do you think you deserve one?” She giggled, “Think you’re worthy of my time or something?”

“No, of course not,” Shigure tried to steer the conversation back to a positive one where he walked away with an invite. That was going to be difficult, if not impossible.

“I can’t believe you had the audacity to ask me,” She smiled finally calming down, “Wow, I must admit, I did not see that coming.”

“And why not?” Shigure teased gaining his usual self back, “Can’t I want to enjoy summer with you?”

She only looked back at him and in her mind deemed his stupid tease not worthy of a response. Shigure dropped his grin and their silence returned, but to them, it was nothing new. Every conversation in the past 4 months always came out like this one. A bit of teasing with some of Akito’s laughter, then their silence, like the air was too thick to breathe so it covered them and left them speechless.

Shigure became tired of standing around like this, tired of this silence, tired of being the bad guy, so he glanced around the room once more, and he was getting ready to announce his farewell. Then the door slid open again.

Lo and behold, our little rooster had finally made it back.

Shigure turned around and glared at Kureno, who didn’t acknowledge Shigure at all, instead he stood waiting to be the one recognized. 5 months ago, Kureno would have come in and smiled at Shigure, maybe even said hello, but after that happened, Kureno turned on Shigure. He would ignore him, and he would not even bother to notice that Shigure existed at all because in his mind it was easier if Shigure didn’t. Kureno couldn’t stand to see her tears that day, so the person who brought them on, to him, isn’t worthy of living. 

Shigure, well, in truth, never liked Kureno either. He could grin, joke, and tease the younger boy all he wanted, but that was merely an act, and Shigure knew that most of the time he was a good actor. Before, Shigure would complain often about all the time the two spent together, but when Akito heard about his words, she flew off at him, yelling about trust and loyalty. Shigure ignored her statements that day, there was no point in listening to a liar. The lie of a torrid affair is not one that is easily forgiven.

There they stood, two soldiers in the same fight next to each other, ignoring each other. The issue here was that they had already started their own fight, and it would not cease quickly because the only person who held the white flag was Akito. At least, for now, she had no intention of waving it.

Finally, Akito recognized Kureno’s presence, and smiled at him, a different kind of smile, one that wasn’t twisted, one that Shigure used to see. “Kureno,” Akito’s voice picked up too, seemed more girlish, “I’m so glad you’re back.” She reached out her arms wide waiting for Kureno to come back to them, and he did immediately. Kureno practically slung himself into Akito’s hug. Shigure felt sick watching her hand run from the crook of his neck down the back of his spine. Shigure thought, ‘If only we weren’t schemers Akito, if only.’

Shigure remembered this sick feeling, the same feeling he got when he saw his parents kiss for the first time. The feeling of hearing bed creaks in his parents’ room. A kind of sickening embarrassment of watching two people flirt or play around, the kind of knowledge that if he wasn’t there in that room with them, he knew what they’d be doing. Instead, he watched this softness, a facade of softness, from Akito. Now he knew she was just rubbing salt in an open wound. 

He watched her slip a finger under Kureno’s belt, and he heard as she laughed, almost manically. He looked as Kureno reached for her hand and pulled it away, the room was so quiet Shigure even heard his dumb whisper, “Not now.”

Kureno pulled away from her arms, but he didn’t leave. He just sat down right next to her, and he put his hand on her thigh. ‘Actually it’s both of them rubbing salt,’ Shigure told himself. Kureno looked at Akito then looked at the poor little dog, finally realizing he was there. 

“I see you had a visitor,” Kureno cooed her as though she was still a little girl. Shigure noted that Kureno’s treatment of Akito had not changed since they were children and Akito was just a small little baby. He cooed to her then, would even sing little lullabies to her, he would tell her stories of knights and princesses, all while Shigure just glared wondering why he couldn’t dote on her.

“I don’t know if I’d count him as a visitor,” Akito sighed, glaring into Shigure’s soul. Shigure felt her presence within him, it was dark, cold, and twisting in a fit of spiraling anger. But Shigure did what he did best, acted as though it didn’t even bother him. 

“Were you leaving Shigure?” Kureno smirked at him. Damn, maybe Kureno is better playing this game than Shigure was, “Or did you just plan on sticking around?”

“Actually,” Shigure tried to pick up a point as though somewhere someone was marking tallies, “I was here to wish you guys a wonderful vacation.” The urge to not say this sarcastically was a difficult one to fight, but he pulled through. 

“Yes,” Kureno patted the hand on her thigh, “We intend to enjoy what we can of the dog days of summer-”

Shigure cut him off, “Akito?” He just wanted Kureno to shut his mouth, Shigure actually wanted Kureno to lose his voice forever, but that was only in his dreams, “I didn’t know you fancied a beach vacation? I thought you were more suited for a cabin in the woods type of vacation.”

She laughed, “Cabin in the woods?” She laughed again, “Don’t try to act like you know me.” Her voice lost its girlish-ness and grew hoarse.

Inside Shigure felt the tear and pull of ripping heartstrings. ‘Why couldn’t he act like that? I know her like the back of my hand,” Shigre chanted in his mind. 

“Don’t you have someone else to torture?” Kureno scoffed, “Somewhere else to be but here?”

Shigure wanted to yell that he wasn’t torturing her, that he wanted to be here, that really he wanted to be in Kureno’s place, but his face held this expressionless smile. The two of them could never even begin to guess how he felt if they cared about what he felt. They didn’t.

“I could always go back to my place, sit and wait out the summer, I suppose, unless you wanted me to come with you guys,” Shigure finally tried to score a point, and finally thought he offered a challenge.

Kureno and Akito exchanged looks with each other, almost like they took the same breath, “You want to come?” Kureno asked.

“Yes, I do, a vacation is welcome anytime, it’s not like I’m the only other person going.” Shigure gained confidence back feeling a burst of energy erupt inside of him.

Then finally Akito seemed to be done with their petty squabble, “Take the damn invite, you’re not going to leave until you get it.”

Shigure wanted to jump up and down out of pure joy, but he fought his urge. He smiled greatly, “Thank you Akito, I hope we all enjoy ourselves.”

Kureno dropped an eyebrow and looked over at Shigure. Shigure caught on and mirrored this expression. An expression of a challenge to see if Shigure could truly win back Akito’s favor. Kureno wasn’t going to let that happen easily.

Let the games begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their vacation is happening soon. I hope you guys are excited. :)) As always comments and reviews are welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I just want to thank everyone for their support of this story. It really means so much to me. :)) You all are so awesome!!
> 
> As for notes, this chapter is about how Hatori and Aya got invited on the trip, so it is about the two of them.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 4:

Now, Shigure wasn’t the only person who was begging for an invitation. There was one more person who pleaded and begged until Hatori had enough. Well, at least that’s how Hatori viewed the situation.

A few days earlier, Hatori was casually minding his own business. He was sitting rather comfortably in his office chair playing Solitaire, instead of filling some much-needed paperwork. The sun was blinding him through the blinds, that bright yellow light. Hatori sighed out loud thinking that someone could ask what was wrong, but he was alone and losing at his game.

His office had been awfully quiet the past few days. The only person he saw was Akito, and she didn’t come outside of the scheduled time. There were no surprise visits requesting an Advil or Tylenol. Not that he minded, just curious as to why he hadn’t seen anyone. Now, he is ignoring his work in light of playing a pointless computer game.

An hour passes and now Hatori is occupied with Minesweeper now, and he is losing ground. He never really passed a couple of clicks before- BOOM! He was dead and clicking the restart button. He had pulled the blinds at one point, and he had no intention of opening them until the season was over. ‘If anyone touches them, they’ll be needing a doctor,’ he told himself, even added a slight chuckle to the otherwise silent room.

A knock on the door. Hatori had never powered down his computer that fast. He gathered himself, smoothed down his shirt and blazer, and ran his fingers through his hair. He smiled as he said, “Please come in.”

The door opened revealing the person to be Akito, who was having a surprise visit, but this time, hopefully, she bore better news. She adorned herself in a white kimono lined with the outlines of what seemed to be roses, Hatori wasn’t a flower expert. She didn’t seem out of sorts or anything, so there was no reason for Hatori to be worried, but he still was. Akito always made Hatori anxious when she appeared in his office, despite the reason she showed up. 

She stepped into his office, and almost tip-toed over to where he was standing. Hatori raised an eyebrow at her notion, but she didn’t catch it. “Hatori,” she whined, “I’m tired.”

She tugged at his blazer with a child-like pout on her face, “Is that so?” Hatori rolled his eyes, “What about me? Think I get tired?”

Akito’s inner-child came out every so often, whining and fussing, maybe that was due to the fact that she was constantly treated like a spoiled child by everyone. However, sometimes Hatori would have to scold her, but he tried to be gentle or poke fun in a teasing way like Shigure would have done. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

“Hatori?” She fussed around pulling her hand away, “You have no reason to be tired, you sit in here all day while I have been working.” Then she smiled as big as she could hoping that Hatori would bestow some sort of validation to whatever she was working on, and Hatori if he believed in this work knew it wasn’t much. He knew her idea of work was telling other people how to work. For her.

“Really?” He asked, “What kind of ‘work’ are you doing?” Hatori was doing his best to play along with this, but he wanted to play Minesweeper again because he thought he could win this time. 

Akito teasingly smacked his arm as a sibling would, “I am actually doing something in spite of what you believe, it’s why I’m so tired.” Then Akito proceeded to fake yawn. She was really trying to sell this.

“Sure,” Hatori sighed, “You are always doing something.”

Then Akito became fed up with his adult attitude. She wanted to go back to her room so Kureno and Yuki could baby her until she was satisfied, but she hadn’t finished her work here quite yet.

“Well,” She sputtered out like the tea-pot in the nursery rhyme, “I was going to invite you, but now I don’t want to.”

Hatori’s eyebrows shot up, but he refrained from dropping his mouth. Determination, he called it. “Invite me where?”

“My work which you believed to be a lie was actually planning AND arranging a whole vacation,” She strained the ‘and’ as though doing both of those things proved to be demanding in their own rights, “Then I was generous enough to include you in those plans.”

Hatori grinned at her and tried to unravel at how idiotic this whole idea seemed. A vacation? Who on Earth is going on a vacation? When is it? Why is it, is a better question. Hatori’s mind kept spiraling, he didn’t know what to think.

“Where?” He finally quieted his thoughts enough to make out one of them.

“A beach vacation,” She smiled, “I booked us a hotel that overlooks the beach, our room even has a balcony. Isn’t that fun?” 

“Yes,” Hatori gritted through his teeth, he didn’t like the idea of multiple people in one hotel room “Who is going?”

“Me, of course,” She smirked, “Kureno, Yuki, and you, if you’ll come.”

“What about Shigure?” Hatori remembered his friend suddenly. ‘Why not invite him?’ Hatori questioned her reasoning.

Akito’s smile and once happy demeanor faded away in the blink of an eye, now she seemed angry, but the type of anger you feel when you want to cry, or something like that.

“No,” She said, as though those words were difficult for her to say, “Well…” she was beginning to reason with herself, “I don’t know, maybe.” 

Hatori only saw fit to change the mood, he was the one who started this, “I suppose a beach vacation sounds enticing, I’ll be sure to join.”

Then she went back to her excited self again and squealed, “Yay! I knew you would come.”

She began to walk towards the door again, Hatori guessed she wasn’t really tired, just needed a reason to be in here, but he remembered something and called out to her, “Wait a second.”

Akito froze in her tracks and turned around, “Yes?” 

Hatori gained a lump in his throat, and it felt like something was in his stomach, “Do you mind if I invite someone?”

“As long as it’s not Shigure, I don’t mind,” She told him. 

“Thank you,” Hatori smiled. 

Akito left the room and Hatori ran over to his phone, he needed to make a call. He picked it up and pressed in the numbers, rather fast, actually so fast he dialed it wrong the first time. Finally, it went through.

“Hello,” Hatori said rather timidly.

“TORI-SAN!!!” Hatori’s ear was almost blown off like in Minesweeper, “HELLO!!!”

“Shhhh,” Hatori said back, “Aya, I’m at work right now.”

Aya didn’t care, “No! You mustn't work your life away! You have to take the bull by the horns and begin anew!”

“I’m the family doctor, you idiot!” Hatori was getting annoyed. ‘Maybe this isn’t a good idea,’ he sighed to himself.

“Ahhh, family doctor. Taking care of me during the harsh freezing winters where I could die in the cold snow!” Is Aya always this dramatic? Yes.

“I called to tell you I won’t be home for a little while, I’ll be elsewhere,” Hatori had just planted the seed. In truth, Hatori wanted to invite Aya, but it would be more satisfying if Aya was begging to come. Hatori liked being the superior, especially when it came to Aya. 

“Whaaa? Where are you going? Why are you leaving me?” He showed a whole slew of emotions from dazed and confused to saddened and needy.

“I’m taking a vacation actually. Getting some time off.”

“NO! You simply don’t do vacations! Especially without me at your side! I must come with you!” Aya was starting to lose ground. 

Hatori seeing a break in Aya prided himself, “Oh? Would you like to come?”

“You must invite me! Without me a vacation would be useless, utterly boring, lacking color in the world.”

“Would you beg for an invite?” Hatori smirked, Aya could practically see it over the phone which caused him to pick up some momentum.

“Are you not begging to invite me?!” Aya screamed. Hatori felt his cheeks flush. ‘Damn it. Aya discovered my logic.’ Hatori was mentally panicked.

“N-n-no, I was just saying that you could come if you wanted,” Hatori acted like an awkward teenager.

“What I thought!” Aya beamed through the phone. Then he suddenly grew as awkward as Hatori, “But y-yeah, I’d love to join you.”

Hatori and Aya both grinned as they hung up the phone call. Hatori was now too flustered to even begin to play Minesweeper, but at least Aya was coming. Both of them thought, ‘What a wonderful vacation this will be.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!! :)) As always reviews and comments are always welcome. We'll be seeing more of Shigure in the next chapter, and our beach trip is coming quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First all, I just want to say thank you so much for over 100 reads, that means the world to me. 
> 
> We're back to Shigure now, hope you didn't miss him too much. ;))
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 5:

It had been a few days since Shigure had scored his lovely invitation to attend Akito’s vacation. However, he had no idea that Kureno and Akito, and maybe Yuki, planned to make his vacation a living hell. 

Shigure woke up with the hustle and bustle of the evening traffic outside. It was long after an acceptable time to get up. 6:30 pm. Shigure rolled over and looked disgusted by the time, ‘Can’t all be winners,’ he thought as though that sentiment would help his case. Yesterday he had planned to do all of his packing today, and that he would wake up feeling refreshed around 7 this morning. That didn’t happen, actually anywhere close. He woke up nearly 12 hours after he said, and had nothing packed. Their vacation was tomorrow.

Shigure rolled to the other side, fussing around under his heavy covers. He was already stuck driving, something Kureno had called and told him a few days earlier. 

“Shigure,” his voice buzzed over the phone, “Everyone came to the conclusion that you should drive-”

“Who the hell decided that?” Shigure yelled back to him, if he was in person Shigure would have fought the urge to punch, he wasn’t sure if he could hold that urge in.

“Akito decided that, so I wouldn’t dispute it, actually dispute it if you want, she may just un-invite you.” Then Kureno laughed, a smug laugh. He thought that he had just said the world’s funniest joke. He didn’t.

“Is torturing me fun?” Shigure asked, half sarcastic, half-serious. It was something he wanted to know. Did Kureno gain some kind of sadistic pleasure watching Shigure get red and furious at him? Did he bust out laughing watching him drape his head in shame? Shigure didn’t know, but he assumed he did. ‘Why go through the pain if not?’ Shigure told himself.

“No,” Kureno seemed rather grim over the phone, “but you tortured her, so I don’t mind doing the same.”

Then nothing but the silence of the phone clicking off. Kureno hung up while Shigure lingered over the beeping phone. He felt nauseous. His stomach dropped and his head became ringed with sweat. ‘Hatori was right, I do need to learn how to lie in my bed,’ he said remembering his words, ‘just not yet.’

That was days ago, and Shigure decided to accept his fate driving because Kureno was right, Akito truly would have un-invited him if he had asked not to. He turned over on his back, staring up at his ceiling fan, whirling around providing him with an odd sense of air conditioning. His tiny house didn’t have a central unit, so he sweated it out. Shigure mentioned once how he hated losing the air conditioning in his new home for Akito to laugh and say “Now you know how I feel.” This proceeded to be some sort of twisted but unknown extra punishment for Shigure. 

He watched his fan circle around and around, sweat pouring out of him, his vision finally syncing in. He could see those circles so clearly that he was starting to become dizzy. He put his arm over his eyes, and sighed, “Tomorrow starts my chance to fix things, don’t screw it up.” He groaned and pushed himself up sitting in his bed, the blankets sliding down his front side. He always slept naked, it was less smothering that way. He scraped himself out of bed and walked himself to the kitchen. Then he suddenly remembered he needed to pack. 

‘Pack! Shigure pack!’ he yelled in his mind. He didn’t even bother dressing himself, he lived alone, if anyone wants to look that’s their problem. At least that was how Shigure viewed things. He darted back into his bedroom and slung open his suitcase. Empty. He ran to his closet and pulled out some clothes. One those Hawaiian tropical shirts, actually make it three. He and Aya had bought loads of those shirts a few years back at a second-hand store. Good thing he kept them. Packed a few t-shirts. And shorts, God he needed shorts, this is a beach vacation. He needs swim trunks too, and flip-flops. All that into the bag. ‘What else?’ he thought. Underwear. He yanked some from a drawer, a coupe pair off the floor. They smelled fine. Then he kept a pair for right now and slipped them on. A few more shirts and pants, all stuffed into an overflowing suitcase. He had to sit on it to fully zip it up.

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Finally.” He stood up from his suitcase and grinned when it didn’t pop back open. He half expected it to at any given moment. He walked himself back into the kitchen for a cup of ramen, just add water. He powered his microwave and watched it boil. He had nothing better to do in his time. Television bored him, and the radio only played the same songs over and over again. As for social media, the only one he really used was Facebook, but Akito blocked him, so now it was pointless too. There he sat in his underwear eating a cup of crappy ramen, thinking about how he got here. Well, that was obvious, so he wanted to think about their vacation instead. He saw Akito all dolled up in a bathing suit catching some bright sun. He saw her asking for him to lather her back in suntan lotion and laying next to her reading books, while Kureno was getting burnt, he even imagined that Kureno would cry about his sunburn pain later that evening while Akito called him a wimp. Man, was Shigure excited. Too bad he was unaware his vacation would be nothing like that.

Half-way through his dinner, maybe breakfast, nobody knows, and an image of Akito and him sharing a light kiss during wine sips and sunset, the phone rang. Shigure snapped himself back into reality, his dreary reality of cup ramen and living alone in a steamy house, wearing nothing but underwear, he frowned and got up. He walked over to his phone and saw the number that displayed on its small digital screen was the number of the main estate. ‘Is Akito calling to confess her undying love?’ Shigure thought then quickly dismissed the idea. He answered, “Hello? Shigure speaking.”

The voice on the other end was the one person Shigure didn’t want to hear, “Hello, Shigure. Kureno here, are you having a fine evening?”

Shigure rolled his eyes at his fake nicety. Of course, it was Kureno because only he could make the calls.

“Yes,” Shigure said to his chagrin, “I’m having a lovely evening.”

“Well, I’m sorry to inform you, as I assume you’ve already packed, but Akito has instructed that you bring formal clothes.”

Shigure furrowed his brow, half hoping Kureno could see over the phone. ‘That damn formal clothes rule,’ he told himself. 

The clothes thing existed in the main estate, a sort of rule made up by Akito a long time ago. She has always had a sort of thing about being well dressed, so she has to surround herself with others who are also well dressed. That’s why at the main house, Shigure was always in a button-up, or a polo and slacks. Dress shoes when he was out. That’s how Kureno dresses too. Hatori, well, he’s always in some full-fledged suit, even matching cufflinks. As for Yuki, Shigure knew that Akito still picked out his clothing in the morning. Typically, a short-sleeve button-up, a sweater vest, and either shorts or pants depends on the weather outside. It had always been like this, ever since Shigure could remember. If they didn’t follow this unspoken rule, Akito would go off on them, screaming about being well-groomed. 

Shigure lied, “No problem, I’ll get to repacking my clothes, I should’ve known that we need to keep ourselves polished even outside of the estate.” Shigure wanted to cry at that moment. For one he had just frantically packed almost everything like a maniac. He probably beat some kind of record somewhere. He also felt targeted answering this phone call in a pair of red underwear. 

“Glad to hear that, I’ll go and inform Akito that you’re pleased with her sudden change in plans. I hope you’re as excited as I am for tomorrow morning.” Shigure could almost see his plastered smile from across the phone. 

“Good night Kureno,” Shigure sighed, being the one to hang up the call. He wasn’t to be bothered hearing Kureno strain to say good night back. Everyone knew they hated each other, Shigure just tried to be less obvious about it.

Shigure poured out his cold ramen and went back into his room to redo everything he had already accomplished. He unzipped his suitcase, almost thinking it would erupt like a volcano. It didn’t, thankfully. 

He dumped his things out only keeping his underwear, swim trunks, and flip-flops. Everything else became another pile on the floor next to various piles on the floor. He saw the bright colors of those tropical shirts peeking through, and he frowned, saddened by this clothing rule. He picked himself up and went over to his closet gathering all the formal clothes he hadn’t worn in months, outside of his visits to the main house, and carefully took them off of their racks. The racks made a tiny pile on his bed. 

Soon his formal wear took up most of the suitcase other than his beach gear and some basic necessities like shampoo and deodorant. He did take time to pack his new cologne, a one he overheard Kureno mention wearing a few weeks ago. According to him, Akito loved the smell, so Shigure went out and bought one for himself. He had never used it, so he thought that now was the perfect opportunity. In the suitcase, it went. Then he closed it up and looked over at his clock. 9 pm. A part of him wanted sleep because he knew it was going to be a long drive tomorrow, but another part of him wanted to stay up and finish his daydream from earlier. 

He chose the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Comments and Reviews are always welcome. 
> 
> :)))


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY!! Over 150 reads, that makes me so proud, that I've written something people enjoy so much.  
> As for notes, this chapter does switch POV, I've indicated that by lines. Now, we're finally going to figure out how this vacation come about.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 6: 

  
  


The morning sun should have woken up Shigure, but instead, it was a shrill noise of an alarm clock. It was too early. 4:00 am. The drive was expected to take 9 hours, but Shigure, well, he sure was in for a longer ride.

He rolled underneath his covers, drenched in sweat. He pulled himself up rather quickly though, he wanted this vacation to start, so he could  _ attempt _ to regain Akito’s favor. He had never really been more excited about anything his life. At the main estate there existed a structure, rules, for Shigure to abide by, so there typically was nothing to be excited about. The only real thing that brought him joy was when Akito preferred his company over Kureno’s, but sometimes he would feel giddy helping plan the banquet. This year he might sneak in to watch, but it won’t be anything like helping Akito pick a color scheme or watching Yuki or Momiji preparing for their dance.

He sighed at the memory of Akito yelling about how different shades of red actually make a difference. She was always so precise. That’s why the clothes rule existed, that’s why she argues over the slightest difference in reds. Then Shigure wondered if Kureno thinks about tiny memories like that, and if he did, what were they? ‘Actually I don’t care,’ he thought as though he snapped out of a trance.

Shigure slammed his covers off and jumped up. Quiet in the house where you live by yourself. He rushed and turned his lights on, grabbing for a pair of khaki shorts and a golf shirt the color of a milky sky. He threw them on and went to fix his hair. He took a clump of gel and started combing it back. He examined his face closely. No stubble. He looked oddly like a posh father would, one with money and class. It was probably the golf shirt. No, it was definitely the golf shirt. Shigure didn’t make this connection so he told himself that Kureno wished he could look this good.

He ran into his kitchen for a microwave sausage biscuit, tastes decent if you can’t cook for yourself. Shigure had no idea if they planned to get breakfast along the way, so he wanted to eat. Just in case. 

He gulped it down quickly and downed some coffee he left sitting from three days ago. Shigure realized he also missed being cleaned up after. Here in this house, the tidiness was all up to him. Which happened, rarely, but he’d get around to it.

He finished his coffee with a light smile on his face. Hell, it was a bad coffee, but it would do the job. He knew if Akito was picky about colors and clothes she would be fussy about the way he drove.

Here’s the thing, Shigure wasn’t aware that he would not be driving them.

* * *

  
  


Kureno awoke in the dim light of dawn shining through their window. It was almost 5, and he knew that if nothing went wrong then they should leave by 6.

Kureno gently sat up in the bed, careful not to make even the slightest noise like a sheet rumbling, or a small creak. All of this to try not to wake Akito, she insisted last night that 5:15 was the only time she’d bother getting up. Kureno pictured her attitude last night, the way her lip turned up, and the way she pointed her finger until she poked him in the chest. He knew she was serious about the 5:15 time, so he’d let her have it. 

Kureno, thinking of that, politely smiled at Akito, who was lost in her dreams this morning. She had drools running down the side of her face, and her hair was all up in tangles, wild really. Akito wasn’t a peaceful sleeper, that was for sure, but Kureno thought she was. Even when he woke up this morning with all of the blankets piled up on her. She was bundled up like a cocoon. He thought the scene was quite funny and charming, he wanted to let out just a small giggle, but he didn’t. After all, it wasn’t 5:15. Then Kureno reached down quietly to brush away a wisp of hair covering her eyes. She turned slightly to his hand and mumbled something softly, but he couldn’t make out the words.

He was still, didn’t even move a muscle. He thought it would have been rude to wake her before the time she said. He’d do anything she asked, even if it meant waiting a few more minutes to wake her up. Kureno noted it was cold this morning, but the icy air hit him suddenly leaving chill bumps on his skin. Akito had all the covers leaving Kureno mostly bare to the cold, but he didn’t mind waiting until the time changed, so he would sit and smile at her until then.

Kureno’s mornings mostly went like this one. He’d always wake up before Akito, and he’d watch her sleep, casually stroking her face. Sometimes she wouldn’t notice his hand, other times she would but still pretend to be asleep. When he woke her up, he’d always kiss her on the forehead, and sometimes his touch was reciprocated, and other times it wasn’t. The one thing he noticed, for sure, however, was that ever since  _ that _ happened, Akito was more affectionate towards him, more loving and caring it seemed. She’d ask his feelings and opinions on things, something that was exclusive to Shigure a few months ago. 

That’s why when Akito mentioned bringing Shigure on vacation, Kureno and Yuki both were in disbelief. 

“Why do you even want to invite him? Wasn’t this meant to be ‘our’ vacation?” Kureno asked when the idea of their vacation became a group one. 

Akito frowned at him, “I planned the thing, I think I can invite who I want.” She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

“I find Shigure repulsive, so I don’t want him going either,” Yuki hissed sitting next to Kureno. Kureno sensed a moment of solidarity between the two. Even if they aren’t best friends they still can hate on Shigure all they want.

“I never said for certain I was going to invite him,” Akito said as she turned back around. She was a tad upset to see that Kureno and Yuki didn’t agree with her notion, but she could understand why.

Yuki fiddled with his bangs, strands of silver in the light, “I just think that as many problems as he seems to cause, he’s not the best person for a beach vacation.”

“I agree with Yuki,” Kureno nodded his head, “Is he really the kind of guy you want tagging along?”

Akito dropped her attitude taking in their very true statements, but she wasn’t convinced either way. A part of her wanted to invite Shigure, the other part wanted him to suffer a slow and dreadfully hot summer alone. 

“Wait,” Akito called out, “I’m thinking.” She put her hands to her forehead as though she was actually thinking. Not entirely wrong. ‘What if there was a way to do both of those things?’ the thought infected her mind, as she realized there truly was a way.

Kureno and Yuki looked at each other rather unamused. They knew that when this vacation was even mentioned that it couldn’t stay between the three of them. Hatori would be forced to go, either by Akito or the main house and knowing Hatori he’d invite someone else. That was at least 4-5 people, they didn’t need a 6th, let alone for that 6th person to be Shigure.

“Just hear me out,” She stated, “What if I invite Shigure-” Kureno and Yuki rolled their eyes so she paused for a moment, “And the three of us-” another pause due to the boys’ annoyance, “make his trip a living Hell, I mean it’s the ultimate revenge. No?”

Kureno and Yuki looked at each other, then looked back at the maniacal smile on Akito’s face. In truth, they didn’t hate the idea. They despised Shigure, might as well make his trip Hell, he’s sure made their lives that way. 

“I like the way you think,” Yuki said standing up to go walk over to stand next to her. 

“I try,” She smiled and looked at Kureno, “And you?”

“Sounds,” Kureno’s voice grew dark at the thought that he could torture Shigure, “Perfect.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


If only Shigure would have thought this through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Reviews and comments are always welcome. :)))


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Also, I've started school, but I'll still try to get a chapter or two a week. :))
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 7:

Shigure hadn’t expected a warm welcome arriving at the estate, but he did expect more than no welcome at all. 

When he finally arrived at the estate, 30 minutes early, no less, he had expected to see someone attending their vacation standing about. There was no friendly wave from Hatori or at least some kind of glare from Yuki or Kureno. He knew that Akito would try to deny his presence, she knew that upset him, but he saw no one. 

He walked around inside, taking quiet steps because of how early it still was, 6:35, they were to leave at 7, at least according to Kureno’s call. He said promptly that they would leave by 7 in the morning. Shigure had no idea that the call as well as most of the calls from him in the past week were lies. However, Shigure  _ always  _ finds things out the hard way.

He tip-toed to Hatori’s office and slid the door open as gently as possible. Silence. No one was home. Shigure thought, ‘Hatori is probably elsewhere, helping them pack.’ With the thought, Shigure tip-toed down to Akito’s room, creeping through the halls he partly felt like a criminal. After all, he had been banished from here, so it was evident that he wasn’t the most welcome face around.

When he arrived at the door he knocked softly first. He was scared of terrifying her if she was half-asleep. No answer. Then he tried louder. No avail. One more time. This time he knocks sounded like pure thunder sending vibrations all the way down the hall, but still, no one spoke to say come in. 

Shigure swallowed once and slid the door open. They were gone. He walked in half-expecting them to play some kind of joke on him, but no one was there. He examined the room, and he smiled when he saw that all the covers were balled up on one side. ‘Akito, huh?’ he thought going over to try and fix them. Shigure was never any good at making a bed, he left his a heaping mess every morning, but he could fix her’s. He unrolled the pile, and then he smoothed it out over the mattress. It wasn’t great, but better than what it was.

He continued over to look at her nightstand. On it sat a lamp, a couple of books with tabs sticking out, he knew she liked to annotate her books after she was finished, a few photographs. One of her and Kureno. Shigure scowled when he picked it up. It was taken out in the gardens, a nice day. Kureno, well, Shigure thought he looked dumb, but Akito looked stunning, well, she always did look beautiful in Shigure’s eyes. He sat the photo down and looked at the one of her and her father, back when she was still fairly young. He didn’t pick it up, he was nervous that she’d notice if he touched that one. The last photo was a photo booth roll, pictures of her and Yuki. Yuki, he loved arcades, and he and Akito went one time so they hopped in the photo booth. Shigure didn’t pick that one up either. 

Then Shigure walked over to the door, and he sighed as he left the room. He went back to the entrance and stood outside for a moment taking in the early sun. ‘Did they really leave without me?’ he asked himself as though he could answer. In truth, the only person who could would be someone he could reach. ‘Hatori!’ Shigure’s mind lit up.

Shigure pulled out his cell phone and dialed Hatori’s number it rang once or twice before he picked up.

“HATORI!” Shigure yelled into the phone, “Where are you!”

He could almost hear Hatori roll his eyes, and he did actually hear Hatori sigh out loud, “I take it you’re at the estate.”

“YES!” Shigure screamed, “Where the hell is everyone?”

Shigure could hear Akito in the background saying to put the call on speaker. He heard the beep of Hatori doing just that.

“What the hell is going on?!” Shigure half-asked, half demanded. He had no idea. One possibility was that Akito had planned on leaving him there, and actually not inviting him. The other was that they could just be 5 minutes away and this was some kind of prank that Akito thought of at the last minute. Either way, Shigure didn’t want either of those things to be true.

Then he heard Kureno speak up, “Oh,” Kureno laughed, “Did you forget you’re driving the luggage?”

“WHAT??” Shigure lost his focus, he was too busy thinking about how much he hated Kureno, “No! This was never mentioned! You said that Akito told me that I was to drive.”

Then Yuki butted in, “Well, she did say you were driving, just not us.”

Then he heard Akito laugh, the kind of laugh when a scheme of hers works out as she wanted it to. Shigure frowned and balled his fist up. He couldn’t understand why this was happening. Well, he did, but that was beyond the point at the moment. 

Everyone agreed a few days ago that Shigure should drive, yes, but he should only drive the luggage. That way he couldn’t be in on any planning that would take way in the car. Hatori and Aya didn’t agree with the three of them necessarily, but they were in no mood to argue with Akito. They would also leave before him, picking out their beds and spaces in the hotel before Shigure got close. Akito has said that leaving him out was just one thing she had up her sleeve. She didn’t bother saying what else she had planned, but it wasn’t due to Kureno’s lack of asking. He did ask her, but she shrugged like a child would.

Now, Shigure stood outside of the main house, hearing the laughter of his friends and people he despised to his core over the phone. He felt his nails dig into his skin, and he noticed that his foot was tapping quickly up and down.

But, when dealing with Akito he learned it was easier to live with what she did. It wasn’t as though he could change her mind. He picked himself up, adjusting his attitude to be mature, “Okay, I suppose I could ask for clarification in the future.”

“It would do you good,” Kureno hissed over the call.

“I suppose it will, but I should ask, where is your luggage?”

“It’s in, well, you know, the place where Akito sits around all day in,” Hatori stumbled on himself. Shigure knew he was trying to be cautious talking about the room where Akito spent pretty much all day in. Really, Hatori was trying to avoid calling her lazy, and he did a fair job.

Shigure could see Akito cross her arms over the phone, “It’s not all day.” Shigure saw Akito pouting in his mind then he thought that even if this trip is like crap, he’ll get to spend it with Akito and that’s what he wanted so badly.

“Okay, I got it, I’ll pack it up and be on my way,” Shigure paused for a moment thinking of the events that have already transpired, “Wait?- I do have the right place, right?”

“Yeah,” Akito said, “I wouldn’t do you that dirty.” 

Shigure grinned at that sentiment, “Okay, I’ll see you guys in a bit, bye-bye now.”

“See ya,” Hatori said as the phone beeped off.

Shigure looked up at the sky and readied himself to scream ‘Damn it’ as loud as he possibly could, but he didn’t. He'd rather not have everyone in the main house jumping down his throat for waking them up. He sighed. It was quieter. Then he examined his hand seeing four tiny crescent shapes from the call earlier. 

He was in disbelief that Akito had done something like that to him. She didn’t hate him that badly, did she? Shigure had no way of knowing, so all he could do was listen and try to accept that now he was hated. Hated by the one he loved the most.

He did what he did best acted naturally and went back into the main house to begin gathering the luggage. He grabbed a suitcase, then grabbed another. Two down. Nine to go. 

Eventually, he finished his task and loaded the luggage in the car. They could be his companions if nothing else. It was 7:15 now. Had no idea how far ahead the others were, not that he cared. They left him, that was their choice. Shigure’s choice was what got to play on his car radio. He picked a pop music station mainly for the heartbreak songs that are so popular nowadays. He needed some relief this morning, so as he drove off to a song about heartbreak he thought about what Akito said earlier. The line “I wouldn’t do you that dirty” rang in his ears, blocking out the song, and blocking out a memory from 4 months ago trying to darken his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Comments and Reviews are welcome.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for over 200 reads!!! :))) Like that means the absolute world to me!!
> 
> Should I have done my Geometry homework first, probably.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

CHAPTER 8:

A car radio blared into Shigure’s ears as he thought about just what a  _ vacation _ he was in for.

* * *

About an hour ahead sat everyone else in the mini-van they had decided to take. Hatori was stuck with the driving, he didn’t mind. Ayame had called the passenger seat who was reclined back, mouth gaping open snoring so loud and obnoxious it was driving everyone crazy. Well, everyone who was awake. Behind him, in the middle row sat Yuki trying to sleep. That wasn’t going too well for him. He kept shuffling his position, changing the song on his phone, and couldn’t pick a topic to dream about. In the back row was Akito and Kureno, both asleep. Akito leaned on Kurneo’s chest, her body curled up in the seat. Kureno rested his head on his arm which he propped up on the window. 

Ayame was elbowed awake by Hatori. A slight gasp upon being brought back. “Haa-san,” Ayame cried, “Why wake me up?” Aya’s voice was groggy and very sleepy, he actually wanted to go back to sleep.

“Because,” Hatori stated, “I’m starting to get bored, look.”

Hatori motioned his head back, and Ayame after fixing his seat, turned around to look. His eyebrows raised up, “I see everyone’s asleep, maybe we can,” He reached for Hatori’s arm, “You know.”

It was hard to tell when Aya was serious or just playing around. However, Hatori was sure he was joking, so he could play that game too, “While I’m driving? Sounds dangerous.”

“No,” Ayame clammed up, felt his cheeks get a little warm, “As good as that sounds, I meant we should take a picture of the two back there and send it to Gure-san.”

Hatori caught his realization and sighed. ‘Was Aya playing their game too?’ the question crossed his mind. 

“Why?” Hatori asked, wanting a genuine response from Aya. He wouldn’t get one.

“Because I said so.” 

Ayame pulled out his cell phone and opened the camera app going for the picture. He grinned as he took the snapshot. 

“Gure is going to  _ love  _ this!” Aya beamed, opening his texts to Shigure, attaching the photo, and hitting send. He did this all so quickly Hatori had no time to tell him no. 

“Did you really send that?” Hatori asked with a slight tinge of sarcasm on his tongue. 

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Aya said all wishy-washy. A phrase he picked up from Shigure no doubt.

* * *

Speaking of Shigure, he was about 5 and a half hours out of the hotel. He was unamused, to say the least. They had left without him and lied about the whole thing. He sighed as the song switched to playing some kind of love song, “Who believes this crap?” He asked a piece of luggage thinking he would get some kind of response. He figured they were planning every single detail about the whole trip. He didn’t know almost everyone was sleeping. 

Shigure already knew that he was painted as the villain here. He knew he did some very  _ questionable _ things, but that was months ago. He had figured that Akito would have forgiven him by now or at least understood why he did it, but that hadn’t happened. It was more or less the opposite. Shigure thought that Akito hated him right now more than she did right after it happened. Was it because she was too in shock to process it, or was it because that fact that it did happen kicked in. Either way, it was a big mess. Now it was a big mess they planned to bring on vacation.

Shigure rubbed his eyes and saw an exit to a rest area, he got over in the lane and pulled into the parking lot. Upon pulling in he sighed as he turned off his radio, removing his car keys. He thought about missing out when they eventually stopped at a rest area. He could see Hatori grabbing almost every brochure, just to look at, he says. He pictured Yuki being  _ way _ too picky at the vending machine until the boy would give up deciding on the most basic choice. He saw Aya just frolicking around with no destination on his mind, just running around because he wanted to. Then he saw Akito walking around with her arms crossed complaining about the sun. He saw himself telling her that he would carry her to the shade if that’s what she wanted. He imagined her growing as red as a fire truck, while Kureno sat in the shade alone. Suddenly, Shigure realized he wasn’t there with them, that he was so far behind trying desperately to catch up. He pictured Kureno taking over the conversation he had envisioned, and scowled at the air around him. Now he didn’t want to get out of the car, he just wanted to catch up with them. He really just wanted to be forgiven.

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket. He figured it was just work but was surprised to see Aya’s face pop up. Shigure already knew that Ayame had hopped along on this trip, a trip planned against Shigure pretty much, and figured that he, too, was on their side.

He typed in his passcode, Akito’s birthday. Shigure had a thought that he should change his passcode but deemed himself too lazy. He opened Aya’s message and saw a picture he didn’t want to see.

Aya had snapped a photo of Akito bundled up very intimately on Kureno, both asleep in the car. Shigure could feel how tight his grip got on the phone, any further he would’ve smashed it. He took a deep breath and screamed in his car. A couple who was walking by happened to stare. He felt some kind of release after the scream and got back on his phone opting to call Ayame.

A couple of rings until Aya answered his phone, “Gure-” He was cut-off.

“Aya, I saw your picture,” Shigure hissed as he saw the image again in his head, “I think you’d make a  _ great _ photographer.”

Aya knew he was being sarcastic, “Thank you! I’ve always thought of purring the art of photography as a side passion, maybe landscaping.”

Shigure rolled his eyes, “Any reason why you would send that?” He asked, truly wanting to know. 

“Yes, I wanted to show you, so you can, you know, top him,” Aya whispered into the phone. Shigure might have hated Aya’s methods most of the time, but he knew what he was doing. 

He wanted to get Shigure riled up so that then he could maybe beat Kureno. Not a bad plan. 

“Right,” Shigure sighed, “You make it sound so easy.”

“It IS that easy!” Aya stressed the ‘is’ into the phone.

“If you say so,” Shigure mused, “I’ve got to get back on the road. Bye.”

He hung up the phone. He thought about what Aya had said and decided that Aya could have very well been right. Shigure knew it was possible, he could beat Kureno and Akito at their own game. It would be a difficult challenge, that’s for sure, but it takes two to tango and Shigure was determined to make sure he was Akito’s dance partner.

* * *

Aya slid his phone back in his pocket and looked over at Hatori. 

“I think we’re on treacherous territory,” Hatori said glancing over at Aya. 

“I know, but a three on three sounds like the only way to spice things up,” Aya mumbled sorting through radio stations. 

A three on three, well, something is bound to play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you enjoyed the story! Reviews and comments are welcome! :))


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have notes this time.
> 
> We're going to assume that Japanese Beaches are the same thing as Americal Beaches. For this story in particular I took inspiration from Beaches in South Carolina and Georgia. 
> 
> That's all, but they'll probably be more as I go along.

CHAPTER 9:

They all knew that the sun was going to be scorching, but none of them expected it to be this bad.

A few hours have passed ever since Aya had sent that picture to Shigure, and the five of them were already there, give or take a couple of streets. Kureno had called the hotel minutes earlier for the hotel to say it would be a couple of hours before they could check-in. That meant Shigure would’ve arrived by then. An hour away, on some twisty, winding, seemingly never endless, road Shigure was driving, rather grumpy, a frown appeared on his face.

He was just pissed he wasn’t already there enjoying the hot sun shining on his face like everyone else. Not that they were enjoying themselves. They hadn’t quite yet found a suitable spot to park in the hotel lot. Actually, Hatori had found many places to park, but Akito would yell and scream that it wasn’t close enough and to find another one. They’re still looking.

Shigure eventually wound up on the last exit and was only 10-15 minutes away. He saw his car thermometer shoot up to an outstanding 88 degrees, a type of weather he hadn’t seen in forever. They’d all be lucky if none of them wound up sunburnt on this trip. Wishful thinking.

Shigure turned off his radio when he finally reached the two-minute mark, the shining blue ocean was seen from his car windshield. A grin as he passed many beachgoers on the crosswalk. ‘It really was going to be a summer vacation,’ he thought turning left. He picked up his phone and dialed Hatori again as he passed the hotel on the street. After a couple of rings, Hatori answered rather glumly, “Yes?” 

“Hatori,” Shigure said, “What am I supposed to do about parking? It says I need a pass to get in here.” He glanced back over at the sign in front of the parking building.

“Well,” Hatori laughed, “I don’t know, I’ve been in this damn building for an hour.” Shigure had thought that Hatori was possibly going to lose it. Not wrong.

“Oh?” Shigure teased him, “Only an hour, well, if it were me we would have already been loaded up in the room.”

“No, we wouldn’t have,” Yuki hissed, “we would still be in this parking lot.”

Shigure rolled his eyes, “Know where I can get a pass to get in here?”

“No,” Kureno said, as Shigure could practically see his smirk over the phone, “One pass per room. You’re gonna have to park in the lot down the street.”

“What?!” Shigure yelled into his phone, “I have the luggage, not you guys!!”

“Sucks to be you,” Yuki said.

Shigure was about to accept another defeat, but he thought of what Aya had said hours earlier and remembered that he didn’t have to always lose.

“Hatori, can you hand Akito the phone?” Shigure asked as he heard Aya slightly humming to the radio because he didn’t want to get involved with this mess.

Shigure heard the shuffling of hands as the phone made its way to the backseat to Akito. 

“Hello?” She answered.

“Hello,” Shigure mocked, “What do you expect me to with all this luggage if I’m down the street?”

“Carry it, I suppose,” She sighed into the phone, “There’s nothing else to do with it.”

“I could always throw into the ocean,” Shigure joked, “I mean I would only be a short walk away.”

“No, you’re not to throw away my luggage.”

“Well,” Shigure sensed an opportunity, “Meet me in the lot, give me the pass, I’ll unload the stuff, then we can switch back.”

Akito thought it over, and she had to agree that his plan did make sense, after all, he said they’d switch back. 

“Fine,” She griped, “I guess you’re right, we’ll see you in a few.”

Then the phone beeped. Akito had hung up. Shigure smiled and wiped a tinge of sweat off his forehead, ‘That’s easier than I thought,’ he told himself.

Shigure pulled in and waited for their car to show up. About 10 minutes passed before he saw their black minivan pull in. It drove over and pulled in the spot next to Shigure and Aya rolled down the passenger window. Shigure in turn rolled down his window as well.

“Gure-san!” Aya beamed at him, “How I’ve missed you!”

Hatori leaned forward to make eye-contact with Shigure, and Shigure unamused waved sarcastically.

“Good to see all of you, it was a long ride here,” Shigure fake-smiled.

“Not as long as mine,” Hatori sighed.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Akito butted in from the backseat.

“The pass?” Shigure asked, just wanting to get everything packed into the room. Honestly, despite the time being only 4 in the evening Shigure could’ve laid down and gone to sleep until tomorrow morning. If everything was packed, he could pick out a bed, lay down, and sleep. 

“Right, right,” Hatori said to his chagrin, “you need the pass to hell.”

Shigure laughed, “I know a parking building isn’t that bad.”

Hatori only looked at Shigure. His eyes were bloodshot and on the verge of angry tears. He really was a mess, a rarity for the perfect Dr. Hatori. He never looked bad, so Shigure did become a little worried about going into this parking building. But, it can’t be that bad right? 

It had been almost 30 minutes since then. Shigure was lost in the parking building. Their room was on the third floor and somehow he ended up on the eleventh. He wasn’t quite sure how to turn around to get back down either, so he did what he knew to do. He pulled into one of the very seldom open spots and called Hatori. It was second nature to call him. He always knew what to do.

“Shigure, I see you’re not doing well,” He said immediately after answering the phone. 

“That was fast,” Shigure asked, surprised he was that easy to read. 

“Let me guess you’re stranded.”

“Wow, you’re good.”

“What can I say when I deal with idiots every moment of my life.” Shigure heard Aya start mumbling in the background.

“I’m on the eleventh floor, what should I do with the luggage?” Shigure asked. He almost felt nervous up here. On the eleventh floor of a quiet parking building.

“You haven’t got the stuff in yet?” Hatori asked him.

“No,” Shigure told him, “How could I have done that?”

“Go back down to the first floor,” Hatori stated, “And get a trolly, then load the stuff up into our room. I figured you know that much.”

Shigure whined, “You really overestimate me.”

Then Kureno spoke up from the back, “And Shigure I’ve already checked us in and told them to leave the door unlocked, so you can go on in.”

Shigure was hesitant to believe him, but he did and began driving back down to the first floor.

Once down there he pulled into an open spot and grabbed a trolly that sat in front of the door to the hotel lobby. He wheeled it back over and began stuffing all the suitcases on it. Due to some knowledge of Tetris, he managed to fit all twelve on the trolly. By the time he was done though he was drenched in sweat. It did take him a good twenty minutes to load all of it. Beach weather am I right?

He walked into the lobby and past the receptionist at the desk. He didn’t bother acknowledging that she existed. Then over to the elevator to room 311. He walked down the hall to see their room in front of him. To his right was the wall, and to his left was an open balcony facing the street below. Also on the third floor was the fitness room. Not that any of them would be using it. He walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Then he tried knocking. No answer. He sighed and tried knocking harder. This time one of the maids who were cleaning the room had answered.

“I thought you were done,” Shigure told them, trying to remain calm and polite.

“No, you can’t check in until 6 o’clock,” She hissed at him.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Shigure said as she shut the door. He looked at his trolley full of luggage and all he could see was Kureno’s face, so he went over and started shaking it. Yelling, attempting to gain a sense of release. Finally, he ran over to the railing that faced the street and screamed, “Damn you Kureno!” to all the crowd below. He hoped in his heart that all of them heard him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Like always, comments and reviews are welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. :)) Chapter 2 should be coming soon, like in a week or so, but I'll hurry. Please review! :))


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